Dark Days

Kelly’s departure left Bills in a hole

By David B. Lukow

Five years ago, as Sports & Leisure Magazine prepared to release its inaugural edition, the Buffalo sports scene, at least on the surface, looked quite similar to what we’re seeing today. The Bills and Sabres were still the main attractions, but there was a very different group of athletes and coaches comprising both teams and their respective staffs. The NHL entry was rising towards its zenith, while our other major league program, the beloved Bills, had shuffled off to dullsville. This article takes a look back at the 1997 Buffalo Bills.

It felt like the end of the road.

The 1997 season was supposed to mark the beginning of a new era in Buffalo Bills football. The team’s gutsy starting quarterback, its heartbeat for more than a decade, Jim Kelly, had announced his retirement the previous winter. But with head coach Marv Levy and his staff set to return to Orchard Park, it seemed just a matter of time before the old hands and the storied franchise would return to glory.

Man, were fans and followers of the team in for a letdown! Instead of inching back to greatness, the Bills continued on the boring spiral to mediocrity. Buffalo, coming off a 10-6 campaign, which ended in a disappointing playoff loss to Jacksonville, finished with just six wins. It was the first time since 1986, Kelly’s first season in Western New York, that the Bills had won fewer than seven games. Losing in the playoffs might have been disappointing, but not even qualifying, while at the same time falling in with the league’s untouchables, proved devastating. Years of winning, years of complete dominance, had permanently raised the bar.

Levy, arguably the greatest coach in Bills history, and now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, drew a lot of the heat for his team’s uninspired showing. Had the game he had mastered now passed him by? Critics called for his head, blaming the decline on age and an inability to deal with a changing style of play.

Other factors, far more institutional in nature, most assuredly played a more significant role in pushing Buffalo back with the pack. In the new age of free agency, winning, year-in-and-year-out, could actually come back to haunt you. Those on top, drafted at the bottom, putting enormous pressure on the front office to consistently discover hidden talent. Former Buffalo general manager John Butler, like his predecessor Bill Polian, had enjoyed tremendous success unearthing quality performers, Phil Hansen, Don Beebe and Keith McKeller are some obvious examples, but the supply wasn’t endless. Eventually, poor drafting position would take its toll.

Free agency could supply a quick fix, as the Bills would learn in 1998-99, but it would also deplete valuable talent. Between 1992-97, the Bills watched players like Will Wolford, Cornelius Bennett, Howard Ballard, Nate Odomes and Shane Conlan, kiss Buffalo goodbye. Big money was breaking up our Bills. And without premium picks to replenish the roster, there was a serious shortage of viable replacements, and so it seemed, hope.

The Bills, as well as their supporters, were hit hard by the aforementioned departures, but the loss of Kelly, a player that had injected new life into both the franchise and surrounding area, was devastating. His replacement, third-year pro Todd Collins, proved incapable of keeping up the pace. Collins had ideal size, and a solid arm, but his leadership ability, something that can’t be measured on paper, was nowhere to be found. The Michigan product’s quiet nature, and low-key approach, only complicated the team’s difficulties. Kelly had provided, even willed, direction. Collins, to be honest, looked lost.

The numbers weren’t horrific, 215 completions, 2,367 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, but Collins didn’t deliver the most important commodity, victories. Before the season came to a close in Green Bay, Levy moved heady backup Alex Van Pelt into the starting role. Van Pelt, now the top reserve to Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe, may have lacked raw ability, but his heart was huge. Additionally, he was respected and admired by all of his teammates.

Following the season, Levy rode off into retirement, and was replaced by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Formerly the head coach in Denver, Phillips guided the Bills into the playoffs in his first two years at the helm. Fired by Buffalo following an 8-8 finish in 2000, he left the Bills with a 29-19 regular season record. Currently the defensive coordinator in Atlanta, Phillips went 0-2 in the postseason.

Collins was released in the summer of 1998. His departure was a foregone conclusion once the Bills had signed Doug Flutie, and then traded for Rob Johnson. He wasn’t on the street for long, however, and has been a backup with the Kansas City Chiefs for the past four seasons.

Flutie, diminutive but determined, made football in Buffalo fun again. His presence got fans interested, and in the process, probably saved the franchise. Johnson, as it turned out, at least at One Bills Drive, had nothing on Collins.